Sunday, January 30, 2011

Levee construction began in the 19th century in the U.S. on the Mississippi River and rivers like the Red and the Brazos. Work has pretty much continued on them since. In the 1920s and especially the 30s, government contractors brought laborers into camps to build the levees higher and higher. These camps were wild places where the only law was the boss. Murder and other crimes were common. It was yet another situation where black laborers were brutally exploited. Still, there was no shortage of men looing for jobs on the levees. Pay was better than sharecropping. At least when a worker got paid. They often didn’t.

Texas singer Gene Campbell told the story when he recorded Levee Camp Man in 1930:

These contractors, they are getting so slackThese contractors, they are getting so slackThey’ll pay you half of your money and hold the other half backThere ain’t but two men that get paid offThere ain’t but two men that get paid offThat’s the commissary clerk and the walking bossI see somebody coming down to the water troughI see somebody coming down to the water troughI know it ain’t the contractor, it’s that doggone walking bossA levee camp mule and a levee camp manA levee camp mule and a levee camp manThey work side by side, and it sure is man for manA levee camp man ain’t got but two legs you knowA levee camp man ain’t got but two legs you knowBut he puts in the same hours that a mule do on fourI wouldn’t drive no four-mule teamI wouldn’t drive no four-mule teamFor no doggone contractor I’ve ever seenMen on the levee hollering “Whoa Haw Gee”Men on the levee hollering “Whoa Haw Gee”And the women on the levee camp hollering “Who wants me?”

Whoa, Haw, and Gee are direction calls for the mule teams. The women hollering who wants me presumably would have been prostitutes. Women at levee camps did include prostitutes as well as the wives and girlfriends of the men. In 1927, Lucille Bogan, recording as Bessie Jackson, sang about how difficult it was to be a levee camp girl in Levee Blues:

Down on the levee, Camp Number NineDown the levee, Camp Number NineYou can pass my house, honey you can hear me cryI never had no blues, until I come by hereI never had no blues, until I come by hereI'm going to leave this camp, you can’t start in hereMy sister got the, brother got them tooWe all got the levee camp bluesI ain't found no doctor, ain't no doctor in this whole round worldI ain't found no doctor, ain't no doctor in this whole round worldJust to cure the blues, the blues of a levee camp girl

In 1941, Son House recorded Levee Camp Blues for the Library of Congress telling a story about a woman after the good pay of a man working on the levee:

Every evening she would be standing at the landing cryingOh she would be standing at the landing cryingWhy don’t that big boat hurry and bring home that man of mineWay down the river you get to hear that big boat whistle blowOh, you could hear the big boat when she blowWell when that doney got that check, I said, she couldn’t use me no moreI’m going away, I’m going to stay a great long timeI’m going, I’m going to stay a great long timeYou know I ain’t coming back, honey, until you change your mindOh, don’t a man feel bad when the good old sun goes downWhoo, I said when the good old sun goes downI said he don’t have a soul, boy, his soul is in the ground

Alan Lomax recorded work songs including an example of the type of music sung by levee workers. Levee Camp Holler:

Whoo, I woke up this morning and I was feeling badWhoa, babe, I was feeling badI was thinking about the good time that I once have hadWhoa Lord, boy she brought my breakfast this morning and she didn’t know my name, she didn’t know my nameShe said give it to the long line skinner with the brass knob handShe said give it to the long line skinner with the brass knob handOh, boys, iIf you want to go down to Mr. Charlie and don’t get hurt,Go down Monday morning when the boy’s at work, you’ll be alright, you’ll be alrightMmm, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, LordBoys, I got a woman up here right away looking for meBoys, she’s looking for me, she’s looking for meLord, I’m going home before long, hmmmBye bye, bye bye baby, I’ll be home before long

Texas Alexander recorded a similiar type of work song in 1927 for Okeh records, Levee Camp Moan accompanied by Lonnie Johnson on guitar. It’s a levee camp moan set to some amazing music:

MmmmmmLord, they accused me of murder, but I haven’t harmed a manAccused me of murder, I haven’t harmed a manThey have accused me of murder, and I haven’t harmed a manThey have accused me of forgery and I can’t write my nameLord, They have accused me of forgery and I can’t write my nameWent all around that whole corralI couldn’t find a mule with his shoulder wellI couldn’t find a mule with his shoulder wellWorked all morn and I worked all dayI couldn’t find a mule with his shoulder wellMmmmmm, mmmmmm mmmmmmLord, that morning bellLord, she went up the country, yeah, but she’s on my mindWell she went up the country, but she’s on my mindIf she don’t come on the big boat, she better not lastIf she don’t come on the big boat, bog boat, she better not lastLord, If she don’t come on the Big Boat, I mean she better not last

Leadbelly also examined the abuse of levee camp mules in his 1935 Library of Congress Recording, I am All Out and Down about life on the levee camp and a woman wanting a man's pay:

Honey, I'm all out and downHoney, I'm broke baby, and I ain't got a dimeEvery good man gets in hard luck some timeDon't it baby, don't it baby, don't it baby, don't it babyAh the mules and the horses taking corn and hayThe women in the levee, shouting 'cause it's morn' pay daySweet day, sweet day, sweet dayHoney, I’m a long ways from youHoney, I'm going to tell my woman like the Dago told the JewYou don't want me, honey I don't want youTell me baby, tell me baby, tell me baby, tell me babyWell the sun is going down and the mules is getting hungry and the men are getting hungry tooAnd just thinking about it’s close to paydayAnd the man had a brown skin womanAnd he he wished pay day would move off a little furtherSo he wouldn't give his baby nothing til payday comesShe was shouting because she knows it’s morn pf paydayAnd here’s what the woman said:Ah the mules and the horses taking for the corn and hayThe women in the levee, shouting 'cause it's morn pay dayCrying Day, crying day, sweet day, sweet day, sweet day, sweet day, oh dayHoney, what you want me to do?Honey, I'm going to tell my woman like the Dago told the JewYou don't want me, honey I don't want youTell me baby, tell me baby, tell me baby, oh baby, oh babyThe brownskin woman keeps you worried all the timeBrownskin woman makes a good-eyed man go blindWon’t you baby, won’t you baby, won’t you baby, won’t you baby, won’t you baby?Honey, I’m a long ways from homeHoney, I’m the poor boy a long way from homeCan't get nobody one the ?Can I baby, can I baby, can I baby, can I baby?Honey, I’m all out and downHoney, a yellow woman makes a preacher lay his bible downA jet black woman makes a jackrabbit hug a houndWon’t you baby, won’t you baby? Ah baby, ah babyDon’t it baby, don’t it baby, don’t it baby, don’t it babyWell, do you hear me blow my horn?Honey, keep it in the market gunning side by sideCan’t get to ? nothing will let you rideWon’t it baby, won’t it baby, won’t it baby, won’t it baby?Honey, I’m bound to sing this song, honey

Ma Rainey saw the levee camps as something keeping a man and a woman apart. She recorded Levee Camp Moan in 1925:

My man has left and he’s gone awayBack to the levee where he used to stayI kiss and hug him and his kiss is goodI feel so lonesome and awful blueThat’s the reason you hear me moan the levee camp moan, I can’t help myselfEach night and moment I yearn for romanceBack to the levee where my man beThat’s the reason I moan the levee camp moanI’ve been to ? I’ve been to HoustonIt’s all because I love him babyThat’s the reason you hear me moan the levee camp moanMmmmm, mmmmm, It’s all because of...That’s the reason you hear me moan the levee camp moan

In 1941, Washboard Sam sang about a more modern levee camp with most of the same problems. Levee Camp Blues:

Says I worked in a levee camp just about a month agoSays I worked in a levee camp just about a month agoSays I wind so many wagons, it made my poor hands soreWe slept just like dogs, eat beans both night and dayWe slept just like dogs, eat beans both night and dayBut I never did know just when we were due our payThey had two shifts on day and the same two shifts at nightThey had two shifts on day and the same two shifts at nightBut if a man winds wagons, he can't treat his baby rightYeah boy, wind it now, wind itElectric lights going out, telephone is bogging downElectric lights going out, telephone is bogging downI'm going to keep on winding because I'm the best old winder in town